NOVEMBER 21, 2005

GP2 expanding to 26 car

The GP2 series has announced that a 13th team, called Trident Racing, will join the series in 2006. This is a new team established by Gimmi Bruni's manager Maurizio Salvadori. Bruni will drive one of the cars but there is no word yet on the second driver.

Salvadori is a veteran rock music promoter, who has been involved in the business since the early 1970s when Trident ran a record label. In the 1990s the firm concentrated on running tours for Italian rock singers such as Zucchero and Eros Ramazzotti while also organising Italian events for international stars such as Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Bon Jovi and Madonna. In recent years the business has moved into personal management of stars with Bruni being joined by the likes of Ramazzotti and Dutch soccer star Clarence Seedorf. The two men are shareholders in the new team, along with former racer Massimo Sigala.

GP2 turned down a number of other bids for the 13th team slot, including one from Trevor Carlin. He says that he will now see if he can buy a franchise from one of the weaker teams.